


The Once and Future King

by GreedoDidntShoot



Category: Merlin (TV), Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: Archery, Awesome Gwaine (Merlin), Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Awesome Morgana (Merlin), Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Evil Morgana (Merlin), Gen, Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Gwaine Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Humor, Merlin is a Little Shit, Mid-Canon, Mid-Season, Minor Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, Swordfighting, Uther Pendragon Dies (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 03:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreedoDidntShoot/pseuds/GreedoDidntShoot
Summary: The battle for Camelot has begun. When King Uther is killed in battle King Cenred wages war on Camelot, war that would turn rivers red, topple kingdoms, and possibly end the Pendragon line.





	The Once and Future King

Prince Arthur woke to a blinding beam of light hitting him directly in the face.... and the sound of Merlin tripping over the curtains and hitting the stone floor. 

Merlin groaned in pain. "Rise and shine." He said attempting to stand back up.

Arthur sat up. "Merlin, what are you doing on my floor?" Arthur asked looking at his servant. 

"I was uh.... checking for sock mites." Merlin responded.

"Sock mites?" Arthur looked at Merlin as if he had said he was gonna farm toads for a living.

"Yes, they're these little bugs that live in socks, and urm.... bite your feet." Merlin said trying to sound as serious as possible.

Arthur's expression didn't change.

"Breakfast?" Merlin asked gesturing to the chair.

"Sure." Arthur sat down at the table.

Merlin pulled the lid off of a platter of chicken, bread, and a few fruits.

"Thanks." Arthur said.

"Need anything else sire?" Merlin asked.

"No just proceed with your mite hunting." Arthur said.

"Yes sire." Merlin said getting down on his knees and pretending to search Arthur's room to try and avoid looking like a fool, but crawling around on all fours chanting "Here mites" didn't help him there.

After Arthur finished his breakfast he got dressed and went downstairs to the Throne room. "Good morning Father." He said as he walked up to Uther. 

"Quite the opposite I'm afraid." Uther said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Something wrong?" Arthur asked. He noticed Uther was holding a letter with a stamp from the kingdom of Schofield, the kingdom ruled by King Alined.

"Alined has demanded we withdraw our troops from the southern border because a Camelot patrol of five men went too far into the forest and crossed into his kingdom." Uther handed Arthur the letter.

Arthur read it. "He had the patrol killed! Surely he can't do that, can he?" Arthur asked.

"They were in his kingdom, he can do whatever he wishes to them. Alined has always loved setting examples, no matter what cost they came at." Uther said with a sigh. "And if we do not do as he wishes he will attack us." He said standing and walking over to a window.

"So what are we to do?" Arthur asked.

"We'll attack him first. Ready the army, I want them ready to fight by sunset tomorrow." Uther commanded.

"Father that seems a bit extreme, why don't we withdraw our troops?" Arthur asked.

"He killed my men, and now I demand satisfaction. Actions have consequences, and it's time Alined learned that for himself. Now ready the Army." Uther said glaring at Arthur.

"Yes father." Arthur said and left the Throne room. 

Arthur was at his desk writing a letter commanding all soldiers in the Army of Camelot to be at the castle by sunrise the next morning.

"What's that?" Merlin asked looking up from making Arthur's bed.

"My father has declared war on Schofield, this is an order that commands the Army be here tomorrow morning." Arthur handed the letter to Merlin. 

"Wow, I didn't know it was possible to misspell your own kingdom's name, I never heard of the Kingdom of 'Aamcelot'." Merlin said laughing.

"Give me that! This is serious. And besides my mind has been elsewhere." He said laying the letter on the desk. "I need a plan to stop him."

"What are you gonna do, go to Schofield and ask King Alined not to attack us?" Merlin asked sarcastically.

"Not a bad idea Merlin, I knew there had to be a brain cell in that thick head of yours." Arthur said smiling. "Pack our bags, we leave at once." Arthur said.

"'We'?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, after all it was your idea." Arthur said and patted Merlin on the shoulder. "And hurry." Arthur said before running out of the room.

"I hate you!" Merlin called just quiet enough that Arthur didn't hear.

Merlin packed their bags and readied their horses. Arthur came out a few minutes later, they got on their horses and rode for Schofield. They stopped at the border between Camelot and Schofield.

Arthur threw a robe at Merlin. "Put that on." He said then put on an identical robe and tied it closed with a rope, pulled up the hood and continued riding. 

"Ugh, where'd you get these? They smell terrible." Merlin said plugging his nose.

"I took them from the laundry room." Arthur said. "It was all they had, unless you wanted to wear a dress." Arthur said.

Merlin thought about it for a second. "You know what these are great robes." He said with a fake smile.

They arrived at Schofield castle a few hours later, they dismounted at the stables and walked to the front doors. The guards opened the doors and let them pass. They walked up to the doors of the throne room. "We request an audience with the king, it's of great urgency." Arthur told them. 

"Names?" The guards asked.

"I am Friar Jacob, and this is my colleague Friar Sam." Arthur said gesturing toward Merlin.

"Any weapons?" One of the guards asked.

Arthur opened his robe. "Nope."

Merlin did the same.

The guards opened the doors and let them in. "Friars Jacob, and Sam bring a message of great urgency." The guard said and then closed the doors behind him.

"What do you want?" Alined asked setting his goblet of wine on the armrest of his throne.

Arthur knelt at the bottom of the platform that Alined's throne sat on. He removed his hood. "I've come with a warning."

"Arthur! How the hell did you get in here?!" Alined yelled.

"That doesn't matter, I need you to listen. My father has ordered me to ready our Army and you have until sunset tomorrow to withdraw your threat of waging war on us, or you risk having a war in your own land." Arthur said.

Alined laughed. "You want me to withdraw from a threat? And what, give Camelot the satisfaction of making me look like a coward?" He said.

"I promise if you, if you withdraw from your threat we will not taunt you." Arthur said.

Alined smiled."Promise?" He asked.

"I give you my word, no harm will come to your pride." Arthur held out his hand.

"Of course, you may go home and tell your father that I halt my attack." Alined said and shook Arthur's hand.

"Thank you my lord, I am forever indebted to you." Arthur bowed and walked out.

After Arthur and Merlin left Trickler walked out from behind Alined's throne. "Are you really to halt the attack?" He asked.

"No, proceed with the invasion." Alined said as a demonic grin stretched across his face.

Merlin and Arthur mounted their horses. "Well that went quite well." Merlin stated.

"Indeed it did Merlin." Arthur agreed. They rode home through the forests and arrived at nightfall. Arthur ran through the halls of Camelot to the Throne room, he burst through the doors to find his father staring out the window. "Father! I spoke to Alined, he said he would halt his attack!" Arthur yelled.

Uther turned around. "You went behind my back and made a deal with our enemy!?" He screamed.

"I saved thousands of lives!" Arthur replied matching his father's tone.

"And you had no intention of telling me of your plan? Do you have any idea what you risked going over there?!" Uther yelled.

"No more than I'd risk fighting in a war with them!" Arthur yelled. 

Uther sat down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I suppose you are right, I should be glad it didn't come to war." Uther stood and walked over to Arthur placing his hands on his son's shoulders. "Thank you son." He said, hugging Arthur. "Tell the troops they are free to go home." He said going back to the window.

"Yes father." Arthur smiled and walked out.

Arthur went to bed but woke a few hours later to the the warning bell sounding. He shot up and called Merlin in.

Merlin rushed in a few seconds later. "Yes sire?" He asked, half asleep

"What is going on?" He said.

"I don't know, Giaus told me to get up and hurry to the keep with as much medical supplies as I could carry. My best guess is we're under attack." He said rushing toward Arthur's window. "Oh god. There's a whole army out there," he said with a quiver in his voice.

Arthur jumped up and joined Merlin at the window. He saw that every village had been set aflame, including the one within the castle walls "Merlin, meet me at the armory in ten minutes, I've gotta do something." Arthur put his boots and a shirt on, grabbed a sword, and hurried out of the castle.

Merlin hurried to the keep with the bag of medical supplies. He gave it to Giaus and hurried to the armory.

Arthur rushed through the town square toward Guinevere's house. He reached her door and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw her house was on fire. He banged on her door. "Gwen?! GWEN?!" He yelled.

"Arthur?!" Gwen yelled from inside the house. "Help! A board is blocking the door and I can't move it!." She said.

"Stand back from the door!" Arthur yelled and took a few steps back before charging at the door and breaking it down.

"Arthur!" Gwen yelled relieved to see him. 

"Are you alright?" He asked. 

"Yes." She replied.

Arthur gave her his hand and led her out. "Get to the keep as fast as you can." He said.

Guinevere nodded and ran toward the keep.

Arthur then rushed toward the other houses in the village. Most of the houses were either empty, or the people inside were dead. After he checked the last house of the village in the castle walls he rushed toward the armory and met up with Merlin.

"Next time you decide to risk your life could you give me my weekly pay first?" Merlin asked sarcastically.

"Nice to see you breathing too." Arthur said. "Now get my armor." He said. 

"Yes sire." Merlin said as he put Gauntlets, shoulder pads, and a breastplate on Arthur.

Arthur grabbed his sword and ran out the doors to the court yard. He was surprised to see so many of Alined's men dead, given the fact that Arthur had sent the bulk of Camelot's Army home that morning. He made his way to the castle entrance and fought off Alined's forces with the Camelot guard and the few Knights left, he made it to the front line where he noticed his father leading a charge of four Knights, most likely to kill Alined. Arthur looked to Alined and saw another swarm of at least one hundred men coming up right behind Alined, and on top of it all Alined was guarded by ten Knights on horseback. Arthur had to save his father. Arthur fought his way through the storm of Schofield soldiers hoping to reach his father in time to help him, as he killed soldier after soldier he swore they would never stop coming, still he fought on, by the time he made it past the waves of soldiers, it was too late.... 

Uther clashed swords with Alined as his Knights fought off the guards on horseback. Uther had managed to get in a slice or two on Alined's face, but Alined had gotten Uther much worse after stabbing Uther's right arm, slicing his chest straight down the middle, and cutting off the tip of two of his fingers on his right hand. Uther managed to land a blow on Alined's left shoulder but the armor was too strong, he swung at Alined's head which was the one place that wasn't covered in steel plate armor, but he missed and instead his sword landed in a tree trunk. He pulled on the hilt trying to free it, but it was no use, and by the time it budged there was another blade stuck, in Uther's chest....

"NOOOO!" Arthur screamed pushing his way through every defense Alined had, Knights, foot soldiers, guards, and finally making his way to Alined himself. He clashed with the King with such force that he made a chip in Alined's blade that went to the center of the sword. Every strike Alined made Arthur parried it, finally disarming Alined by slicing the underside of the king's wrist. He took his chance to end it all and sliced the head from Alined's shoulders. The battle was over, at the cost of two kings. "Father?! Father wake up!" Arthur said holding Uther's head in his lap.

Uther's eyes slowly opened. "Hello, my son." He said as a smile emerged on Arthur's teary face. "The great kings of Camelot call me home, my time as king has finally come to an end. And it is now your turn, and I know you will be a much better king than I ever was." Uther said resting his hand on Arthur's face.

"Father please, don't leave me, I'm not ready for this." Arthur sobbed.

"Goodbye, my son." Uther said lowering his hand. His eyes slowly closed as the sun set on the rule of Uther Pendragon. 

The next morning Uther was buried in a tomb with the great kings of Camelot, Arthur was dubbed King of Camelot that afternoon, and the war with Schofield was over. But a new enemy had risen....

With the news of Uther's death the kingdom of Duncan prepared to march on Camelot, King Cenred had decided to test how the young King Arthur would fare in a real war.

"Sire! I have received news that King Cenred his army, and what remains of Schofield's army march on our walls." Leon said rushing to the young king's throne.

"Cenred, are you sure?" Arthur asked.

"Positive, our patrol took out a scout." Leon threw a tunic bearing a red tree onto the floor.

Arthur picked up the tunic and looked at it. "We have not the resources to fight Duncan and Schofield. I must get word to my uncle." 

"Your uncle?" Leon asked.

"Aye, he is in a very powerful position in England, I am hoping he can bring me some soldiers".

"And if he can't?" Leon asked.

"Then god help us all." 


End file.
